The actor said privacy laws protecting children from paparazzi were a key factor in the family’s decision

George Clooney has been granted French citizenship, along with his wife Amal Clooney and their two children, according to an official decree in France’s government gazette.

The publication confirms an ambition Clooney alluded to early in December when he praised French privacy laws that keep his family shielded from paparazzi.

More moments to savour, following reviews of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024

Peter Moores grew up in Macclesfield, a northern town that would not feel out of place in Surrey. Maybe that upbringing bred his ability to fit in, find a way to communicate and always be of one’s place, regardless of where that place may be.

Erica Fox’s remains were found after nearly weeklong search, marking a rare shark-related fatality for California

California firefighters have found the body of a California triathlete on a beach north-west of Santa Cruz, almost a week after she went missing amid speculation that she was killed by a shark.

The remains of Erica Fox were found on Saturday, her father and husband confirmed to local news outlets. Fox, 55, was part of a group of more than a dozen swimmers who left from Lovers Point near Monterey, California, on 21 December, but she never returned to shore. A witness driving by the area reported to authorities that they saw a shark with what appeared to be a human body in its mouth emerge from the water, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Train accident in Oaxaca is likely to raise criticisms about public works projects from the previous administration

At least 13 people were killed when a train derailed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, in an accident which is likely to revive opposition criticisms of the speed and dealings with which the country’s government builds its flagship public works projects.

The incident took place on the Interoceanic Train, which was built to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, creating an alternative rail cargo route to the Panama canal intended to drive development in the region.

Our magic bullets are increasingly rare and ineffective. The golden age of discovery is over and the way we develop and use drugs needs to change

During her tenure as director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan used to say that all of the “easy” antibiotics had already been found. Her point was that in responding to the urgent threat of antibiotic-resistant infections, we would struggle to find new medicines – or preserve the ones we have – if we didn’t find new ways of working. She was right.

Since 2017, just 16 antibiotics have gained widespread regulatory approval – mostly close relatives of medicines already in use and so unlikely to evade resistance for long. The development of new ones is a slow and unprofitable business, curative medicines being less lucrative than ones treating longer-term conditions. And the scientific outlook remains bleak.

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Here’s what you need to know about the supplements, procedures and hacks everyone’s discussing

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Staying up to date on wellness trends can be tough. What if you get sat next to an energy healer at a dinner party? What are you going to talk about? Raw milk is already sort of passé.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are the wellness trends everyone was discussing in 2025, and what you need to know about them.

Neither side could find a winner as Egypt progress unbeaten but Angola drop out of the tournament

The stadium in Agadir looks rather empty.

The transfer window is almost upon us.

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Zambia (poss 4-2-3-1) Mwanza; M Banda, B Sakala, Chanda, L Musonda; Chongo, Chaiwa; Hamansenya, Kangwa, Liteta; Daka.

Subs: O Chisala, F Musonda, Lahne, L Banda, Sabobo, W Chisala, Sunzu, Kalusa, Mulenga, Mwansa, K Musonda, Phiri, Mphande, Tembo, Mandanji.

• Hot favourite makes all in Grade One Challow Hurdle

• Minella Yoga doubles up on sparkling day for trainer

Days like these were once almost a weekly experience for Paul Nicholls, as he strung together one title-winning season after another, so the 14-time champion will have taken particular pleasure from his double here on Monday as No Drama This End, in the Grade One Challow Hurdle, and Minella Yoga both emerged as contenders for the Cheltenham festival in March.

The Challow has often been an early proving ground for future stars over fences, and No Drama This End, Nicholls’s seventh winner of the race, joined former champions from the yard including Denman, the 2008 Gold Cup winner, and Bravemansgame, the 2022 King George VI Chase winner, on the roll of honour. Sent off at 4-9, the five-year-old made all the running under Harry Cobden and needed little encouragement to maintain a one-and-a-quarter length lead to the line.

Tighter border controls caused arrivals to decline sharply but forced people on to more dangerous routes, activists say

More than 3,000 people died trying to reach Spain by sea over the past year, a sharp fall from the previous 12 months.

However, activists cautioned that the drop reflected tighter border controls that have forced migrants to take increasingly dangerous routes.

Trump alleged that US forces hit ‘very hard’ in what would mark his team’s first land strike on Venezuela if confirmed

Donald Trump has claimed that US forces struck a “big facility” in Venezuela last week – but the president did not specify what it was, or where, and the White House has not commented further.

“We just knocked out – I don’t know if you read or you saw – they have a big plant, or a big facility, where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard,” Trump told Republican donor and New York supermarket owner John Catsimatidis on Friday.

Last few months of the year have seen $1tn in value wiped from the market, despite all-time-high price of bitcoin

As 2025 comes to a close, Donald Trump’s favorable approach to cryptocurrency has not proven to be enough to sustain the industry’s gains, once the source of market-wide optimism and enthusiasm. The last few months of the year have seen $1tn in value wiped from the digital asset market, despite bitcoin hitting an all-time-high price of $126,000 on 6 October.

The October price peak was short-lived. Bitcoin’s price tumbled just days later after Trump’s announcement of 100% tariffs on China sent shockwaves across the market on 12 October. The crypto market saw $19bn liquidated in 24 hours – the largest liquidation event on record. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, saw a 40% drop in price over the next month. Eric Trump’s own crypto company endured a similar drop in its value in December.

The Argentinian captain has his critics but is the leader and inspiration behind a team finding their feet again

Leave it to a 20-year-old, with three Serie A starts under his belt, to provide a most perceptive analysis of the Italian top flight as we head into a new year. “The most difficult thing to do in this game,” said Francesco Pio Esposito on Sunday night, “is to stick the ball in the net.”

He was speaking in praise of his Inter teammate, Lautaro Martínez, whom he set up for the decisive goal in a 1-0 win away to Atalanta. Pio Esposito had barely entered as a second-half substitute when he was gifted possession by an opponent, Berat Djimsiti. Instead of taking the chance on himself, he froze the last defender and released Lautaro to score with a side-footed through-ball.

Move comes after party’s exclusion for last two years was lambasted by JD Vance at this year’s event

The Munich Security Conference (MSC) has invited lawmakers from Alternative für Deutschland to join its annual gathering of top international defence officials in February after shutting out the far-right party for the last two years.

The reversal, which was confirmed by organisers, came after the US vice-president, JD Vance, lambasted the AfD’s exclusion in a blistering speech at this year’s event in which he accused Germany of stifling free speech by sidelining the anti-migrant, pro-Kremlin party.

It is never enjoyable to be stuck in traffic or pressed up against a stranger’s armpit. But there are ways to make the most of your commute. You could even use it to write that novel

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For many of us, the idea of “the perfect” commute might sound laughable. If we travel to an office, it’s likely to involve either peak-time public transport or stressful traffic. You might not expect that either of those offers much scope for joy, but there are things we can do to make them more enjoyable, productive and healthier. It’s worth putting some thought into this, because commuting can increase stress, reduce capacity for exercise and encourage us to consume extra calories in on-the-go snacks.

The former lawyer turned time management coach Kelly Nolan suggests starting with a commute audit to assess its true impact. “Begin by blocking it out on a calendar. Creating a visual representation of how much commuting takes out of your day gives an accurate picture. It’s not just about how much free time you have left, it’s about seeing how commuting affects other activities in your life.”

Other outlets have asked their writers to compromise, but the Guardian has never – and would never – ask me to pull a punch

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It might be most generous to characterize the behavior of major US media organizations since 2024 as negotiating between competing incentives.

On the one hand, billionaires have consolidated their ownership over major news outlets and platforms. The Murdochs are squabbling over Fox. Jeff Bezos has remade the Washington Post in his own image. The pharmaceutical magnate Patrick Soon-Shiong places a thumb on the scale at the Los Angeles Times, and the Trump-aligned Ellison family has taken over Paramount and CBS, and spent the final weeks of this year making hostile takeover bids for CNN owner Warner Bros. The influence of these billionaire personalities has often reshaped their organizations’ newsrooms and editorial boards, directing investigations and particularly opinion sections towards ownership’s pet projects and preferred policies.

Father Patrick McCarthy was brutally murdered in 1988. The two half-brothers in prison for the killing say he sexually abused them for years

More than 600 alleged survivors of clergy abuse have claims against the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans in its long bankruptcy. Attorneys Frank Lamothe III and Kristi Schubert have 75 clients. Twenty-three of them are prisoners, and most of them allege abuse at two long-shuttered orphanages, Hope Haven and Madonna Manor.

Two of these men had a different path to prison.

The challenges of drug and alcohol addiction are familiar, but violence against others is highly unusual, parents say

When news broke that Rob and Michele Singer Reiner had been killed and a possible suspect was their son, Nick Reiner, who had struggled with addiction and mental health issues, it brought addiction back into the public spotlight. But parents who have been affected by their children’s addiction fear the conversation will focus on the exceedingly rare act of violence instead of the more widespread risks.

Ron Grover and his wife, Darlene, have been glued to the news. They only knew the Reiners by their work, but they feel a connection: Grover’s son also became addicted at 15 to opioids and then heroin, much like Nick Reiner, and he was in and out of rehab and jail for years. But after seven excruciating years, Grover’s son got sober in July 2010.

Exclusive poll: Americans are also increasingly blaming the White House for their financial woes

Twice as many Americans believe their financial security is getting worse than better, according to an exclusive new poll conducted for the Guardian, and they are increasingly blaming the White House.

The poll, conducted by Harris, will be a further blow to Donald Trump’s efforts to fight off criticism of his handling of the economy and contains some worrying findings for the president.

Nearly half (45%) of Americans said their financial security is getting worse compared to 20% who said it’s getting better.

57% of Americans said the US economy is undergoing a recession, up 11% from a similar poll that was conducted in February.

Topped by Rosalía’s multilingual, ultra-ambitious Lux, here are the best albums of the year as voted for by 30 Guardian music writers
• More on the best culture of 2025

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A family classic reborn in a wide open world, a satirical adventure through teenage life and a mystery puzzler for the ages – our critics on the year’s best fun
• More on the best culture of 2025

Ivy Road/Annapurna Interactive; PC, PS5, Xbox
An arena warrior on a losing streak takes refuge in a vast forest where she discovers the joy of working in a cosy teashop. From this simple premise comes a joyful game of mindfulness and social interaction, as Alta learns how to serve up witty conversation and decent hot drinks. Colourful and highly stylised, it is a thoughtful study of burnout and recovery.

New novels from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Ian McEwan, plus the return of Slow Horses and Margaret Atwood looks back … Guardian critics pick the must-read titles of 2025

The Guardian’s fiction editor picks the best of the year, from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dream Count to Thomas Pynchon’s return, David Szalay’s Booker winner and a remarkable collection of short stories.

US president says he and Israeli prime minister will discuss ‘five major subjects’ and Gaza will be among them

Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell Donald Trump on Monday that Hamas must return the remains of the last Israeli hostage left in Gaza before the next stages of the stalled ceasefire can be implemented, Israeli officials and analysts say.

The trip comes amid a new push by officials in Washington to force concessions from Israel to allow progress towards a second stage of the ceasefire in Gaza, which began in October after two years of devastating war.

He feels he has a number of cards to play yet and the remains of Gvili is the easiest one to play now but there are others.

Netanyahu knows exactly what he wants for Christmas – more of the same. Israeli troops stay in 51% of Gaza, periodically striking Hamas … without the shadow of withdrawal looming over him. None of this requires a denunciation of the [Trump] plan itself and Trump can very easily justify Israel’s extended stay on Hamas’s unwillingness to disarm.

Filipinos make up a large percentage of the healthcare workforce, which includes undocumented people

In the Philippines, she spent three years providing end-of-life care for a family’s grandmother. When the grandmother died, family members told the healthcare worker to arrange her own way to the United States, where they operated home healthcare facilities.

In California, they promised, she would have a place to stay and a stable job. They would look after her just as she had cared for their grandmother.