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French striker scores and assists in 4-2 win over Sevilla Dybala scores twice in Roma’s 5-0 win against Parma Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé netted the opener and set up another goal as the hosts beat mid-table Sevilla 4-2 on Sunday to move up to second place in La Liga and close the gap on Atlético Madrid to one point going into the winter break. Mbappé scored with a thunderbolt from outside the box in the 10th minute before Federico Valverde put reigning champions Real two goals ahead from long-range 10 minutes later. Rodrygo fired home the third in the 34th from a cross by Lucas Vazquez. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/E4P02Zw

So far today I have dealt with 200 customers. I have smiled 200 times, but that’s getting harder. Consider me a checkout robot Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast You decided to do it differently this year. You usually buy online, with high-minded principle, from a company owned by the least-loathsome billionaire you can find. Instead, this Christmas you gritted your teeth and drove in a hot car to a local business where you (finally) found a park. Then you steadfastly hunted down the gifts that your family members simply must have, worked your way up the cattle race to the counter, upon which you triumphantly spread your purchases. With luck you’ll be out of here and home before the roads get too busy. That man behind the counter doesn’t look happy; who cares: as long as he’s efficient. That’d be me. I’ve been standing in one spot for the last six hours (OK, one toilet break) and have another three to go. I’ve worked in retail for 14 years, and so far to...

Ministers hail peer as a heavyweight but others question the selection of a previously outspoken critic of party policy Peter Mandelson has been formally unveiled as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, with a series of ministers hailing him as a political heavyweight who will be a reliable conduit into a potentially chaotic second Donald Trump administration. Some Labour MPs were, however, less enthusiastic, questioning why Keir Starmer would reward and trust a figure who had previously weighed in with outspoken criticism of the party’s policies and personalities. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/S75XCvJ

Chancellor pledges renewed focus on growth after Bank of England warning that Britain is on brink of stagnation Rachel Reeves insists she won’t “gaslight” working people over her plans to turn round the economy as she launched a scathing attack on Reform’s offer to voters, saying Nigel Farage “hasn’t got a clue”. With many people still struggling with the cost of living, the chancellor defended her approach, which has so far focused on economic stability, arguing that it was impossible to turn round years of poor performance under the Tories in just six months. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/gzauRFS

PC Sevda Gonen hit the boy in the back of a police van as he was being transported to hospital in London A police officer who slapped a 16-year-old boy with mental health difficulties “multiple times in the face” as he was being transported to a hospital in London has been found guilty of assault. Judge Briony Clarke found Metropolitan police PC Sevda Gonen of assault for striking the boy “multiple times in the face with an open palm” after “she allowed her frustrations to get the better of her” on 13 November 2023, according to the prosecution. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/vBzHFdS

Fiona Wood solves final conundrum to clinch victory and encourages other women to ‘give it a go’ A forensic accountant has become the first female Countdown champion in 26 years. Fiona Wood prevailed in the series final on Friday after correctly identifying the conundrum word as “lassitude”, meaning a state of physical or mental weariness. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/jXGmDOi

The denial of Gisèle’s humanity by her rapists is the denial of violence done to every woman. At her side, we can now look the world in the eye I am looking at a colour photo of a woman with auburn hair entering the courthouse in Avignon. Around her, the impassive faces of her lawyers. This woman is about to hear a verdict. How much will he get? How much time in prison will be given to the man who drugged her senseless and remorselessly raped her? Judith Godrèche is a French actor, writer and film director Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/LlpzKBx

American tech billionaires are no more entitled to meddle in British democracy than other foreign oligarchs Under most circumstances, a British politician seeking cash from a foreign oligarch would make the approach discreetly. Recipient and donor would worry about the relationship looking improper even if the deal could be done without breaching UK electoral law. Nigel Farage has no such qualms. The Reform leader has boasted of his recent meeting with Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Nick Candy, a former Conservative donor and now the Reform party’s treasurer, was also present. Photographs and statements from the British visitors testify to their eagerness that the meeting – and the fact that money was discussed – attract maximum publicity. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Khazc8T

Kyiv’s targeted killings expose the reach of its intelligence services, challenging the Kremlin’s war machine while sticking to the laws of war Russia’s leadership is furious that one of their top commanders has been assassinated by Ukrainian spies. Yet their anger seems misplaced: the targeted killing of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was not an unprovoked act, but a consequence of Russia’s ongoing offensive and Ukraine’s right to defend itself under international law. The explosion that shook a quiet Moscow neighbourhood – eliminating the head of the Russian military’s chemical, biological and radiological weapons unit, known as RKhBZ – also revealed the unexpectedly formidable capabilities of Ukraine’s secret service (SBU). The general and his assistant are the most senior figures assassinated since Russia’s 2022 invasion. The pair were killed when a bomb, concealed in a parked scooter outside a Moscow residential building, was remotely detonated. Continue reading... from The Guardian...

Past talk of renationalisation gives way to approval of takeover in which price of first-class stamp could be set from Prague Royal Mail takeover by billionaire Daniel Křetínský approved Who is Daniel Křetínský, the new boss of Royal Mail? Two general elections ago, Labour was promising to renationalise Royal Mail. Now, in office, it is happy to see the ancient institution fall to a leveraged takeover bid from a private equity-style company that will have the power to set the price of a first-class stamp from Prague. The decision is an outright gamble. Many European countries have privatised their postal services but there is a good reason why none have allowed ownership to pass overseas. Even in a digital age, businesses such as Royal Mail provide critical national infrastructure that has a social value on top. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2MQrhO4

Six goals, 10 yellow cards, extra time and a penalty shootout that was won by the narrowest of margins. It will be of no consolation whatsoever to Rangers that they played their part in a Hampden Park epic. The scale of Celtic celebration as they reclaimed the League Cup gave a tacit admission of how hard they had to work to get there. Ridvan Yilmaz proved the Rangers fall guy. Rangers’ Turkish full-back missed the only one of 10 spot kicks, Kasper Schmeichel saving low to his left. Celtic thereby took delivery of the one domestic trophy to elude them last season . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/lPjR0LM

A chemical attack on the town of Douma killed 43 people in 2018. Now Assad has fallen, the enforced silence of those who witnessed it is over For years, residents of Ghouta, an embattled opposition-held region on the outskirts of Damascus, grew used to death loudly announcing its presence. When Syrian and Russian jets or helicopter gunships roared overhead, bombs were never far behind. But the night of 7 April 2018 was different. According to an extensive investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), two yellow cylinders were dropped from a Syrian air force helicopter, crashing through the top floor of one apartment building and landing on a balcony of another, in the eastern Ghouta town of Douma. The noise they made was negligible compared with the explosions of barrel bombs and airstrikes. But the concentrated green-yellow chlorine gas that hissed out of the canisters was no less deadly. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ae...

Ampthill v Hartpury called off after clearance hits official Thomas was taken off on a stretcher following incident The RFU Championship rugby union match between Ampthill and Hartpury was abandoned on Saturday after the referee, Alex Thomas, was struck by the ball. Thomas, who has officiated games in the men’s and women’s Premiership, was hit by a clearing kick from Hartpury’s Harry Bazalgette in the 28th minute of the game in Bedfordshire. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ZVTMRLa

Residents in several counties of the state have reported sighting drones, sometimes over military facilities Since about mid-November, hundreds of New Jersey residents have been calling law enforcement and state officials after spotting what appeared to be drones in the skies over about a dozen counties. The reports have become more frequent in recent days. In some sightings, mysterious car-sized flying objects, sometimes in groups, were seen above military installations and critical infrastructure such as energy facilities, railway stations and reservoirs. Republican state senator Jon Bramnick said it amounted to “ a limited state of emergency ”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/9fkYIFE

Statement from the Duke of York says he met the businessman through ‘official channels’ and ‘nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed’ The Duke of York has said he “ceased all contact” with the businessman accused of being a Chinese spy after receiving advice from the government. Prince Andrew met the individual through “official channels” with “nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed”, a statement from his office said. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/VtFOfG8

Lawsuit filed by state attorney general Ken Paxton against Dr Megan Carpenter will be first to test power of shield laws The Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has sued a New York doctor over accusations that she mailed abortion pills to a Texas woman in defiance of the state’s ban on the procedure . The lawsuit will test the power of “shield laws”, a post- Roe v Wade strategy designed to protect abortion providers and enable access to pills for women in states that have banned abortion. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fbo3VdA

New Jersey governor urges Biden and federal agencies to further investigate unidentified aircraft sightings The governor of New Jersey has demanded that Joe Biden take control of an investigation into mysterious and more frequent appearances of multiple large drones flying over his state amid mounting frustration that federal officials are downplaying the incidents . Democrat Phil Murphy released on Friday a letter he wrote to the White House to express his “growing concern” after representatives from the Pentagon and FBI ruled out involvement by the US military, or hostile foreign actors, in numerous sightings of unexplained flying objects above about a dozen counties since the middle of November. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/geYPQlf

As thousands took to the streets of Damascus for the funeral of Mazen al-Hamadah, a victim of Assad’s brutal regime, the search for Syria’s disappeared continues The streets of Damascus have been filled with celebrations since Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia last Sunday in the face of an unexpected rebel offensive, ending more than 50 years of his family’s brutal rule over Syria. But at a public funeral for Mazen al-Hamadah – before his disappearance in 2020 one of the most vocal survivors of torture in the regime’s prisons system – the joy gave way to sorrow, as the country begins to grapple with the fact that many of the estimated 130,000 people missing may be lost forever. Thousands of people flooded the streets on Thursday, following Hamadah’s body, wrapped in a traditional white shroud, as it was driven slowly from a hospital to the Abdulrahman Abu al Ouf mosque for funeral prayers. At a vigil afterwards in nearby al-Hijaz square, thousands of men, women and children cried and hu...

Crowe’s safari-going Russian oligarch is the main redeeming feature of this Spider-Man-adjacent tale but there’s not much to like elsewhere Only the robust presence of Russell Crowe – and what might conceivably be a sly visual joke about exiled Russian plutocrat Mikhail Khodorkovsky – make this generic slice of superhero action worth watching. Kraven the Hunter has been an exotic, marginal figure in the Spider-Man part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but now he gets his own film and Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays him as an ultra-muscly super predator with Spidey’s skill in whooshing up and down buildings and a sense for something amiss – although the great arachnid himself does not appear. Kraven thinks of human beings as the only worthy game (that is: bad people who deserve what’s coming to them) and despises people who presume to kill noble beasts. Taylor-Johnson himself gets to fearlessly wrestle with a few digital big cats. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/HW...

Needs assessment by NGO reveals the huge psychological impact of the war with Israel on young people Middle East crisis - live updates A new study of children living through the war in Gaza has found that 96% of them feel that their death is imminent and almost half want to die as a result of the trauma they have been through. A needs assessment, carried out by a Gaza-based NGO sponsored by the War Child Alliance charity, also found that 92% of the children in the survey were “not accepting of reality”, 79% suffer from nightmares and 73% exhibit symptoms of aggression. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/MF8fCtq